Get out your summer calendars—there's another food festival on the horizon.
LA Street Food Fest is making big moves this July with a new concept and slightly-altered name: LA Food Fest, a three-day festival taking place in Exposition Park. The former Rose Bowl event is partnering with promoter Nederland and adding to its roster with more than 100 food, beer, wine and cocktail vendors from July 8 through July 10, starting with a $150 chef-hosted Rose Garden Party on Friday evening. (If a Rose Garden feast sounds familiar, it's because Coachella has their very own VIP Rose Garden experience. Though, you know, Exposition Park has an actual, impressive garden of roses.) Saturday and Sunday afternoon will play host to the MRKT, a more traditional festival experience that allows attendees to roam from vendor to vendor. Some familiar concepts from last year's Street Food Fest will be returning, like the ice cream social, iced coffee lounge and tequila tastings, as well as a few new additions: a wine garden, a live culinary stage and an Artisanal LA Farm Shop. At night, the festival will host a chef-driven pop-up restaurant meant for 250 guests. Could Outstanding in the Field be making an appearance?
The biggest change from last year, though, might be the pricing. As opposed to one set entry fee that lets you eat as much as you can get your hands on, there are a couple options that allow you to curate your LA Food Fest experience. For $15, attendees gain entrance to the MRKT and from then on can purchase individual items, with each food or drink sample priced at $5 to $9. A $69 ticket gives you a more traditional all-you-can-eat Golden Hour experience, with two hours of unlimited tastings from each vendor before the MRKT opens, plus two drink tickets and all-day entry to the MRKT. And if it's baller status you're after, the Rose Garden experience starts at $95 for brunch (lunch or dinner is $125), which includes a chef-hosted dinner with beer and wine pairings, plus entry to the MRKT and access to the Rose Garden lounge.
Vendors have yet to be announced, but as an event that sounds like a mashup of LA Food & Wine and LA Street Food Fest, we can expect to see some fantastic restaurants, food trucks, cocktail bars and chefs represented. Score tickets here, and get out your stretchy pants.
Will you be attending LA Food Fest this year? Let us know in the comments below!